New York Times bestselling author. Slow cooking expert.

Originally published on April 10, 2008.
Photo updated in April 2015 by Deposit Photos HHLtDave5

Day 101.

These are quite possibly the very best ribs I have ever had. They were so good they made my eyes roll backwards, which is nearly impossible right now because I have a hive on it.

Yes.

I have a hive on my EYEBALL. My left one. It's been rather windy here lately, so the pollen count has been absurdly high. I evidently got some pollen in my eye and since my body is oh-so-very-dramatic, my eye took it upon herself to grow a buddy.

lovely.

But! Back to the ribs! They are the bomb. And I'm not just saying that because I've taken it upon myself to medicate with everything I can get my hands on.

I plopped frozen solid beef ribs into the crockpot. I didn't even think of browning them because I hate cooking before I cook.

I then put the soy sauce, water and brown sugar on top, and threw in the WHOLE (don't cut them!) jalapenos on top.

Since my ribs were frozen, I cooked them on high for an hour, then used a wooden spoon to smash them down further into the crock. Then I cooked on low for another 8 hours.

If you are out of the house all day, cook on low. When you get home, turn the ribs over so the other side gets fully saturated with the most-awesome-liquid-ever while you change clothes and set the table.

We served this with brown rice and green beans.

The Verdict.

The kids ate this! I am not even lying! I took pictures, but promised Adam I wouldn't put them on the Internet--but they totally ate the meat.

I was brave and tried a jalapeno. The first bite of just skin was really tasty, but I got the seeds in the next bite and I thought I was going to pass out.

The meat and the sauce were not spicy, they just had a wonderful smoky flavor.

I love these ribs. The flavor is perfect and it's a fantastic way to have Take Out Fake Out at home ---you can watch a movie in your jammies and eat yummy Korean ribs -- it doesn't get better than that!

I cannot wait to try these. I've been looking for something just like it. Stupid question though--do you really need the jalapenos? We would not eat them, and if they're put in whole I wasn't sure if they would really contribute anything or not. I love what you're doing...it's fun letting you be my guinea pig!

Steph,I made these on Friday night using boneless country style ribs and they were awesome! My very picky eater ate like he had been fasting for a month! I made mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and extra sweet corn for the sides. Thanks!!!

Just finished eating these and EVERYONE loved them (which is a rare occurance in this house). I used bonless country pork ribs. I didn't have jalepenos and I added a little ginger, garlic, and orange zest just because they were there. It was so yummy. Thank you for a very easy dinner.

Made this recipe last night using a pork roast as it was all I had in the fridge. Also substituted red pepper flakes for the jalapenos and added some onion flakes. The roast turned out perfectly...fabulous recipe!! Had it with some buttered noodles...mmmm...tasty!!

Made these on Monday. They were indeed the best ribs we've ever had. I had a combination of short ribs and country ribs. I only used 2 jalapenos but think 4 would be just right. I also added 2 cloves of fresh garlic. Only Husband says he never wants ribs any other way. He had the leftovers tonight while Only Daughter and I were at church. Thanks for the idea!

I'm making these for dinner tonight and I just tasted them...they are so good and the house smells amazing.

I added the ground ginger and fresh diced garlic like someone else mentioned. I also added just a little Hoisin sauce and red pepper flakes just to give it a little more bite since my husband likes things spicy...yum-my!!!

I use pork spare ribs, and instead of jalapenos, I use large slices of onion (when they cook down in the sauce it is awesome!) I also use 1 c. water and 1 T. flour, in addition to 1 c. soy and 1/2 c. brown sugar. I layer the ribs, then onion, then mix the sauce and pour over all. (The conventional oven way is to do this at 350, one hour covered, one hour uncovered)

Hi Steph...My name is Jen and I am a crockpot virgin! I love the idea of this recipe, and want to try it with a forgotten frozen pork tenderloin I found waayy back in the freezer. Any idea on how long to cook the frozen tenderloin? Love your blog!Jen

For a big hunk of frozen meat, I'd cook it on low for a good part of the day. It's not going to be cooked fully for 8 hours, but then to tenderize nicely it needs a few more.If you're home--cook it on low and then flip the meat after 6-7 hours and cook on low for another 2-4. If you aren't home, cook on low for 8-10 hrs.

I am half Korean. I would just have to say that one of key ingredient that is not is this recipe for Daji (pig/pork) Bulgogi (the Korean "barbeque sauce") is garlic. Koreans consume the most garlic than other country in the world (yes, even more than Italians!)

These were SO GOOD. My family loved them. I used boneless ribs so the meat fell apart or course. I sorta shredded it and put the meat on Kaiser rolls with provolone cheese. Then I had the juice in a cup for a Korean Dip sandwich. My 6 & 4 year old love it. DH thought it was awesome. Great for leftovers too. Next time I will use more jalapeño though as we like things spicy. :) Thanks for the great blog!

Made this today. I couldn't find beef ribs so used boneless pork ribs. Very tender, but not as sweet as I thought it would be. Next time I'll add more brown sugar. Also I think I would trim the extra fat off, my pack of ribs had a huge hunk of fat all over the whole underside that I couldn't see when I bought the package. But over all I really enjoyed this recipe.

Oh man! Thank you! I have been wanting to "get to know" my crockpot since I received it for my wedding! I am a teacher and a lot of my evenings are spent marking and preparing for the next day- so the crockpot will give us more time together!

OK- do I have to boil these ribs? My mom always boiled her ribs before cooking them- which is why I NEVER make ribs- they take too much time and work! But my husband is a pork-a-holic and he would love more pork products around here! Me- I like chicken myself! Chinese Lemon Chicken tomorrow!

Hi, the ribs are in my crock right now and my mouth has been watering since about noon from the fragrant vapors eminating from my kitchen! I'm korean and when I told my mom about the recipe she starting shaking her head feverishly because of the jalapenos...she started yelling in the perfect Margaret Cho mom way, "No, add garlic, green onions and sesame seeds!!!" So, I kept 3 jalapenos and did add 1/2 tsp ginger, 2 cloves garlic and 1/2 tsp sesame seeds. I didn't have any green onions and wanted to experience the smokiness of the jalapenos I keep reading about. Thx for a great recipe and for helping to engrage my mom! It always makes me giggle. ;)

Yum! Thank you sooo much. We are trying to eat up all the stuff I bought in bulk last year to clean out my freezer and I had NO idea what to do with my country style pork ribs...

These were amazing. I took the juices from the crock pot at the end and boiled them for a few minutes before thickening them with a corn starch slury... Then I softened some mung bean noodles and mixed the noodles, the sauce, and the rib meat (chopped) together. Served with chopped peanuts on top.

Thanks for this recipe! I made the ribs, and they were great ... but I had a ton of the "sauce" left over. I refrigerated it, skimmed the fat off the top, and realized that this was pretty much a spicy teriyaki sauce ... so I pan fried some chicken, removed the chicken from the pan, heated up the sauce, thickened it with a bit of arrowroot powder, and used it as a glaze for the chicken. My husband thought it was a little weird reusing the sauce this way, but I found it tasty and, hey, if I'm gonna use half a bottle of tamari etc ... might as well make sure every bit of it gets used!

I had the butcher cut the ribs "flanken style" and then pounded the meat away from the bone before putting into the crock. It looked and tasted like the "kalbi" from the Korean restaurant. Yum, yum, yum. I want to make these every day.

I FINALLY made these ribs. Stephanie, they were fantastic. I made a batch of coconut rice to go with them. I used my gravy separator to skim most of the fat off the liquid, then poured some of it on the rice.

I'm currently polishing off the leftovers as my midnight snack! Yum!!!

Yup. Made 'em again last night. This time, I used a much leaner pork rib...way better. They were pure meat/flavor.

We had tons leftover. We also had tons of leftover rice. So today, I put the leftovers in the skillet, reduced the sauce down, added stir-fry veggies and the leftover rice to make Fried Rice! The sauce for the ribs is perfect for a pork fried rice! It was so good, I just had to share.

Wow. Wow, wow wow. Made this today, with the most over-frozen ribs ever (took me 40 minutes to cut them up enough to fit in my crockpot!!), and my own concoction to resemble soy sauce (I'm allergic to soy). Just tasted some-they are amazing!!!! Can't wait til the hubby tries them. He doesn't usually like ribs because they're too messy, but these were so tender they fell off the bone when I was trying to flip them! I'll be posting pics on my blog as soon as I can upload them. Thank you so much!!!!

I just finished eating these and they were amazing. I didn't have peppers, so I used a t. of red pepper flakes as you suggested to someone else. I served them with crispy cold coleslaw, but I should have made rice to soak up the sauce. There's enough left over that I just might do that tomorrow.

I made this last night for the family, and it was really yummy! I didn't change anything, as far as the sauce goes. I did toss in some carrots, a bell pepper and onions, just to get some more veggies on the plate (and figured my kids would eat the carrots at least...) Everything came out yummy!

The only thing I would caution other folks about is to be careful with the jalepenos. I had to cook mine a little extra to get it to shred, since it was a frozen block to start with, and after all the pushing and flipping, my jalepenos fell apart. This made everything REALLY spicy!

Now, DH and I loved it, but I couldn't give it to my kids. Whoops. So yeah, next time I make 'em, I'll make sure to take out the peppers earlier.

And I was also curious about using the brown sugar substitute, since we're "low-carb-ers". I think next time, I'll just use half the amount of sugar and soy sauce, and add more veggies. There was SO MUCH [yummy] sauce, I think it would survive with a little less.

Hi, I'm a college student and often cook for just myself, so I only have a 2-quart slow cooker. How can I adapt this recipe for my smaller volumed cooker? Do you have any general tips on how to adapt your recipes for the smaller cooker? Thx.

Great recipe! An amazing thing happened tonight! My 5 year old enjoyed his dinner and didn't complain!!! My 2 year old was a fan too! Have a feeling this will become a frequent meal in our house! Thank you!

OK I made short ribs last night,and while I will say the meet was super tender, there was way more fat than meat, and I hate having to dig through fat to get to the meat. Now I have at least 6 more packages of short ribs in the freezer (part of my winter meat pack) so I am going to keep trying them. This time I will thaw them again, then remove the excess fat, separate them into riblet, rinse and dredge in flour. Then proceed with the Korean rib recipe.

I just bought some ribs yesterday and googled what to do with them. WOW! I just read every comment about these ribs...not one negative! I'm running downstairs to get my crockpot right now! Can't wait to start smelling the aroma of this dish. Thanks so much for the idea!

I am trying this recipe today, with a few minor adjustments. I can't wait to see how it turns out! I put in whole garlic cloves, a tiny bit of apple cider vineger and used part soy part teriyaki (ran out of soy). First time making crock pot ribs and hope its a success!!!

I made this dish over the weekend. It was very very yummy and full of flavor! It made the house smell....so we ended up opening the windows (20 degrees outside) for about an hour. But it was so good!!! I would totally make this again, but I might have to crack a window open next time.

One more thing. I did not use frozen ribs. I browned the ribs before putting them in the crock pot and the meat was still a tiny bit rare when I pulled the meat out 8 hours later on low. Still very very yummy. Loved it!

This was such a delicious recipe! I used boneless pork ribs and a couple hour in I shredded it a bit and it made delicious pulled pork. I also added about 2 tbsp of minced onion and garlic. I cut the recipe back also since it was just for me and my husband, and it was very juicy. I'm not sure if I used too much liquid because I couldn't tell how many ribs you used but it worked really well. We served it over pan seared potatoes with blue cheese! Wonderful recipe!!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to read all the comments, so forgive me if someone has already suggested this. There's a milder pepper, gochu peppers. And it's usually in Asian Markets as Korean pepper. Usually long and green or red. I bet they would work really well in this. They are usually eaten raw accompanying a meal.

I know this is an old post but I made these last night and just wanted to comment. Somebody said they used fresh (not frozen) ribs that they browned first, and after 8 hrs they were still not cooked through. I used fresh baby back ribs, did not brown them, and left on low in slow cooker for over 10 hrs and they were perfect!

After drooling over this recipe for days I finally made them. I used Pork St. Louis style ribs - not frozen and used 5 jalepenos for 3.41 lbs of meat. Because one of my guests cannot handle ANY (really ANY)heat I didn't take any chances and only kept the jalepenos in for 4.5 hours. I cooked the ribs on low for 7.5 / 8 hours. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. Next time - and there will be a next time I'll leave the jalepenos in for the entire duration. There is no heat - just the wonderful smoky flavor reviewed about. I served with white basmati rice and string beans with garlic. The only leftovers from 3 people were 2 single ribs that I will dream about all night for lunch tomorrow. :-)

I made these last week with pork spareribs (I don't care for beef) and wasn't very thrilled with them. I followed the instructions - I mean, it's a crockpot recipe - not difficult at all. I added 7 jalapenos and couldn't even tell where they made a bit of difference in the taste. They certainly didn't add any kick or heat to it. The meat was tender, of course, but the "sauce" cooked up so much that it was just pure liquid in the crockpot. I prefer my ribs with more of a sauce to them. Sorry, I won't be making these again. :(

Trying these out just now using a toasted red bell pepper instead of the jalapenos. I'm the only one here who likes spicy things! Even the red pepper flakes would be too spicy for our house. Will report back on results.

(I toasted the pepper over the gas flame, but you could use a griddle, grill/broiler etc., or maybe get a jar of roasted peppers? For the smoky flavour, is what I'm thinking)

Screwed it up! Put them on too late and come dinner time they were still bouncy. So we had pizza.

I took the ribs out of the juice and put both in the fridge overnight. Glad I did, as I got the juice out this morning and chipped off a truly impressive layer of fat - and the ribs themselves still had a load of fat between the layers! Looks like our butcher's short ribs are a bit too fatty for this dish to be served straight with no tinkering. Maybe short ribs vary in this.

Have pulled the meat out, mixed with the juice and will reheat for dinner. It smells good. I think the toasted peppers are a good hack for chilli-phobes. And I did taste a bit last night - awesome beefy flavour. Just a shame it's not a quick-fix dish for us.

hi! made this recipe and love it! want to make for about 12 guests for new years tomorrow nite.....was going to make it 3-4 batches...or can i fill the crock pot with as many ribs and jalapenos as i can get in? and what's your recommendation for keeping in fridge overnite and reheating tomorrow? thanks!

I've made this using a pot roast, and it turned out great! Add 3-4 cloves of garlic, and definitely use the jalapeños. They add a nice flavor, but don't break them open at all, or you'll have it way too spicy. When left whole, they add a nice peppery/smoky flavor, but not heat. Thanks!

I've made this several times and the results were great. I think the next time instead of jalapeno, I'll use one chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. My family loves a little heat so that would make it perfect.

LOVE this recipe! Love Stacey of the North's idea of using a pot roast too. I'll have to try that.The nice thing about not cutting the jalapenos is that those that can take the heat (ie everyone except my husband) can eat as much or as little as they want while the faint at heart (aka my husband) can enjoy the flavour without the heat. Thanks for sharing!

I'm trying this tonight. The only adjustments I made was is that I added pickled garlic, a sliced sweet onion, Chinese five spice, dried mustard, 8 jalepeños, sesame seeds and a splash of sake. Already Smells awesome after the first hour.